Playing with the 50mm

I received the Canon 50mm prime lens for Christmas and have loved playing with it and learning about over the holiday break.

Here are some things I have noticed:

  • Using your autofocus points with this lens has been super helpful
  • This lens lets in so much light, but you need to be careful – sometimes it is more helpful to have more in focus (I love being able to go down to F1.8, but that doesn’t mean I always need to!)
  • It is so nice to carry around! I love having this lens on my carry, it makes it so easy to carry around with me so I can take pictures anywhere.

 

Christmas 2016

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. It is a time full of family and giving. I love giving gifts, and have been lucky enough to receive as well, including a new lens for this photoginner! My sister gifted me with a 50mm prime lens. Below are some images I have captured with my new lens of my wonderful family!

 

Family Session – Hallock

My friend Laura asked me to capture her beautiful family for their Christmas card picture. I was honored and excited to do so, but I am a photoginner and taking pictures of families for important things like Christmas card pictures is not something I have done before. I am still learning the basics, I can’t handle a real gig!! On top of that, Laura and Pat wanted to share a special message on their Christmas card this year, Nora is going to be a big sister!

The photography gods were smiling down on us and we had a wonderful time prepping for the shoot, the weather could not have been more perfect, and Nora, despite not napping, was the cutest little model. I know I still have a lot to learn, but this opportunity showed me how much I really have learned this year and how much fun family photography can be! I hope I can do it again soon!

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Playing on the swings
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Finding new toys…
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Weeeee!
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Kisses!
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Swings
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Nora and Laura
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Glamour shot!
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Um, wrong way Nora!
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Climbing!
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Climbing
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Cheese!
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Giggles
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Ok Ry you can stop now…
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Pat and Nora
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Family Shot
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Family Shot
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Family
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Nora
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Christmas List
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On back order until May
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Nora and Pat
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Family
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Excited about being a big sister!
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Run away
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Uh-oh
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…and then there were four
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…and then there were four
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Christmas List

Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

To preface this post, we live in a townhouse community and have the greatest neighbors.

Now, for the story of this post. My friend has asked me to take her family Christmas card pictures and while I was honored I was also terrified (I am taking them on Saturday, more to come there!) They have a two year old daughter and I have never photographed children before!! What was I going to do? Show up and hope for the best? That is not fair to them! I mean I can read article after article, get down on their level, have a high SS kids move a lot!, don’t try to have them pose too long!, don’t forget to have free play time!, but nothing can beat plain old practice.

So, I asked the greatest neighbors if I could practice on their daughters! After school today I saw them playing outside with a friend and asked if they wanted to be part of a photoshoot, they happily agreed. Here are the pictures from our “Photo Shoot”! THANK YOU AGAIN NEIGHBORS!

One thing I need to work on is figuring out how to play with my settings so I don’t have to crank up my ISO so high. If anyone has any pointers let me know!!

 

Pumpkin Carving

It’s Halloween and that means it is pumpkin carving time! From autumn leaves to a scary ghost we have it all. Which is your favorite?

Football Family Fun

One of my goals in year 2 of Photoginner is to take more photos of the little moments and to capture more candids (to the annoyance of my family I am sure!).

It was absolutely beautiful last weekend and my family got together to watch the Eagles game and enjoy each other’s company. Not all of the images are perfect, but they all make me smile.

Happy Birthday Photoginner!

I can’t believe it has been one year (well one year and three days) since my first post on photoginner. I have a learned a lot over the last year and I am looking forward to all the lessons to come.

The first night with my camera the only picture (well the only one that was visible) I took was of Winston. Winston has since become a recurring subject on the blog (Oh to be a pom…Winston)!

I googled, pinterested, read, and practiced. I have learned how to use my camera in manual mode by adjusting my ISO, Aperture, and Shutter speed (more on that here: What I have learned so far) I got brave and took my camera outside (Go ahead, get out there! Valley Forge Park) and have enjoyed the journey so far.

So what’s next for this photoginner? The biggest thing is I would like to keep learning! I have barely scratched the surface and have so much ahead. I would like to expand my equipment with a prime 50mm lens. I would like to learn how to properly use Lightroom and Photoshop. I would like to work on my composition and capturing the little moments. One of my favorite quotes is by Kurt Vonnegut:

“Enjoy the little things in life because one day you`ll look back and realize they were the big things.”

In the next year I hope to capture the little things and moments with my family and friends.

Here is a look at the last year! 

 

 

 

It’s Fall Y’all!

It’s fall so we know what that means, it is pumpkin season! And while PSLs don’t entice me, getting some pumpkins and mums from a local patch is always a fun activity! Camden,  Hilly, Nick and I went to the Farmer’s Daughters Farm Market to pick out our pumpkins to carve (finished products to be posted later) and took a stroll through a corn maze! See below for the first of our fall adventures!

Sister Date – Philadelphia Magic Gardens

I have a large family (if you want to take a peek at them check out Hilly’s engagement photos: Hilly’s Engagement) and we see each other all of the time, but occasionally my siblings and I like to get together and enjoy each others company for the day! It is nice to catch up and focus on us. So my sister Abby suggested a “sister day” (sorry Matt!) at Philly Magic Gardens and what a fun day it was!

Philly Magic Gardens is a non-profit that promotes creativity and individuality. It was developed by a man named Isaiah Zagar with some help from his family and per one of the guides at the Gardens used as therapy after his time in the Peace Corp, specifically after witnessing the Vietnam War. I was truly in awe looking at the work one man was able to accomplish. You could go back again and again and see something different each time.

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Love the way the mirrors look in the sun
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The volume of materials and the amount of space covered was incredible
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Sister Day with these two lovely ladies!
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Entering the Magic Gardens
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“Call Home” what a good reminder
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Philadelphia
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Picture
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Where did all of these materials come from?
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Passageway, beautiful colors
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Sources of inspiration, definitely one of mine
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Slowly, but surely
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What a personal space to share with everyone

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Every inch was covered, so many details
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This is part of the artist’s history and the city’s
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Incredible

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Summer S’mores

As summer draws to an end and fall is creeping in Cam and I wanted to pay homage to a classic summer time treat. We have a fire pit table and while Cam told me numerous time not to put the marshmallow in the flame I couldn’t help myself! (I only did one, the rest we heated up in the microwave!)

So before the fall fires begin we helped ourselves to summer s’mores!

All photos were taken on the Canon Rebel T5 EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens (aka the Kit Lens).

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Summer Smores
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Supplies
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Look at that fire!
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Yum!
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It’s melting!
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Finished Product